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Archiver > Scotch-Irish > 2009-04 > 1239740441


From: <>
Subject: Re: [S-I] Townland maps
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:20:41 +0100
References: <mailman.17524.1239487154.2000.scotch-irish@rootsweb.com><49E11982.7020803@verizon.net><F289A0FDE9E94CD79668AAC35681C546@DG1C3Z11><652C01959ABE4C73A4BE1817FD7DD205@userPC><08C30FC722974D4292BF6A9E9FC5A28C@DG1C3Z11>
In-Reply-To: <08C30FC722974D4292BF6A9E9FC5A28C@DG1C3Z11>


Hi John,

Very simply, the very first Ordnance Survey Maps in Ireland were done for
the Griffiths Valuation, so yes, they are one and the same thing. The
government wanted a survey of all land holders so that they could charge
taxes based on the value of each person's holding and before they could do
that, they needed a proper record of the amount of land held, the type of
land and the buildings upon it. This meant surveying the whole of Ireland.
The used the army ordnance corps to do it (ordnance means artillery),
starting on Magilligan Point, just north of Londonerry City. By the time
they had gone all the way round Ireland and returned to that point, they
were only half an inch out!! The instruments they used and the history of
this is recorded in fascinating detail in the Tower Museum in Derry, just
below the building where I work.

Incidentally, much of the work done by Griffiths' recorders was done at the
same time as the maps and is recorded in rough notebooks before being
transcribed onto the GV, which was published between the dates you mention.
These notebooks, called House Books, Field Books and Quarto Books, are held
in PRONI and are of immense value to the genealogist as they often show
information about who held the land PRIOR to the publication of the GV just
as the GV Revision Books record who held it after the survey.

Boyd Gray

http://familytrees.genopro.com/boydgray26/Boyd/default.htm



-----Original Message-----
From:
[mailto:] On Behalf Of John Polk
Sent: 14 April 2009 04:11
To:
Subject: Re: [S-I] Townland maps

Boyd -

Thanks for pointing me back to the Griffiths Valuation website. As I now
see, that is exactly the website from which I had previously obtained the
maps of the Ballendrait area. It has been a while and I had forgotten that
the Griffith website provides direct access to these wonderful interactive
maps, so was looking elsewhere. It is indeed a tremendous resource and we
are very fortunate to have it readily available on line.

Are these maps in fact the Ordnance Survey maps or something else? I know
the Ordnance Survey was conducted 1824-1846 and Griffiths Valuations in
1847-1864, but never quite understood the interrelationship between the two.

I have used the website to search for the folks you indicate, but as I think
you know, my interests are really focused on the mid-17th century, more than
a century and a half before OS & GV so their relevance is somewhat limited
in that context. There is always an issue about how much the lands and names
evolved in the intervening years. The place name that I am interested in at
the moment, Broomfield, doesn't get any hits from the GV search engine for
Donegal, and it doesn't appear in the OS Memoirs for Clonleigh Parish
either.

You are right - I am not currently on Donegal list - will sign up.

John Polk
Havre de Grace MD
USA




----- Original Message -----
From: <>
To: <>
Sent: Monday, April 13, 2009 08:44
Subject: Re: [S-I] Townland maps


> John,
>
> The new Griffiths Valuation website has maps of Ulster townlands in the
> 1850s as well as modern map and satellite overlays. They are interactive
> and can be moved about and to the best of my knowledge there is nothing
> else
> like it on the internet.
>
> You can search the site using either a person's name or any townland.
> This
> means that if you locate an ancestor in the GV, you can zoom right in on
> the
> townland where she or he lived.
>
> And better still, you will be able to locate the plot within the townland
> where your ancestor lived as these GV maps have the Numbers and Upper Case
> Letters marked on them. Unfortunately they do NOT have the lower case
> letters which show the actual dwelling.
>
> This is probably the best internet addition to genealogy in Ireland since
> the LDS put their IGI online and the site can be accessed at:
> http://griffiths.askaboutireland.ie/gv4/gv_family_search_form.php
>
> I am quite surprised you have not already used this site to locate all
> your
> Keyes, Porters, Polks, Taskers and etc, John. And without upsetting
> Linda,
> I notice that you use the Tyrone List but not the Donegal List (leastways
> I
> have no postings to it from you recently).
>
> Boyd Gray
>
> http://familytrees.genopro.com/boydgray26/Boyd/default.htm
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
> [mailto:] On Behalf Of John Polk
> Sent: 13 April 2009 05:10
> To:
> Subject: [S-I] Townland maps
>
> Is there a website where one can get large scale maps showing townlands in
> Ulster?
> SNIP
>
>
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